TELEVISION NEWS: REPORTING AND ANCHORING

UNIT 1

(1.1) The Basics of TV News

We all have seen how television news differs from the many other forms of news media, it is important for
you to understand how news stories are put together. With knowledge of the process, you can watch
television news with a general understanding of how each story came to fruition.
There are different types of news reporting and coverage:

 breaking news
 planned major events
 live reporting
 taped stories

There are different types of TV news providers:

 24-hour cable networks

 broadcast networks
 local stations
 public television

CONCEPT OF NEWS
News is information about current events. News is provided through many
different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic
communication.It is also used as a platform to build opinion for the population.
Common topics for news reports include war, government, politics, education, health, the
environment, economy, business, fashion, and entertainment, as well as athletic events etc.

The English word "news" developed in the 14th century as a special use of the plural form of
"new".As its name implies, "news" typically indicates the presentation of new information.
[
According to some theories, "news" is whatever the news industry sells.
All of us must be reading newspapers. Why is it called a newspaper ? Because it contains
news. There are various sources of news .We hear it on the radio, view it on a television
channel, read it in a newspaper or surf it on internet in a computer. News is something that
you come across everyday in your life. What makes news?
John Bogart has given this comment that became synonymous with news . When a dog bites
a man, that is not news, because it happens so often. But if a man bites a dog, that is news.
Though this may seem true, sometimes, when a dog bites a man that can also become news.
Suppose a dog bites a famous filmstar, it definitely makes big news. It is said that the letters
in the word “NEWS” is derived from the four directions as indicated below:
N orth
E ast
W est
S outh
This shows that news can come from anywhere. News is the report of a current event,
something that was not known, information of recent events and happenings.
There are different types of news:

a) International news

b) National news

c) Regional news

d) Hard news.

e) Soft news.

News is a report of a current event. It is information about something that has just happened or will
happen soon. News is a report about recent happenings in a newspaper, television , radio or
internet. News is something that is not known earlier. From all these, we can safely define news as a
development that has happened in the past 24 hours which was not known outside and which is of
wide interest to the people and that which generates curiosity among listeners.

NEWS AS A TOOL - POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE : News are a powerful tool. These can be
positive as well as negative. You may have read the news about an eighth standard school boy in
Gurugram near Delhi killing his classmate by shooting. This was a shocking news. It was a negative
news also.

You might have seen news like this in papers.Two people died in a communal clash in a small town.
This is also negative news. This news can further provoke communities in other parts of the country.
Negative news creates a negative impact.

But if you closely watch the news items in a day’s newspaper, you will find that there is a mix of
positive and negative news. Students of a school visiting a nearby village and offering them voluntary
service in road building is a positive news. A feature about an NGO devoted to uplift the condition of
street children is another positive item.

News can also be an instrument for development. Many a time it carries a message to the people.
For e.g. a news item such as “Government to give fee concession to all students up to graduation ”.
It is a development news. This enhances the chances of education for millions of students who
cannot afford it and are thus deprived of higher education.
 NEWS VALUES
Journalists are the best judges about what is news and what is not. They take this decision based on
certain news values. The following are the salient points to judge the newsworthiness.

Timeliness: News is something new. So timeliness is a great factor in deciding news. An

incident that happened one month back will not make news for today’s newspaper. Also timeliness
varies from publication to publication. For a newspaper, events that had happened on the previous
day is news. But for a weekly, events of the previous one week can make news. For a 24-hour
television news channel, every second is a deadline. They can break the news anytime. So their
timeliness is different from that of a newspaper.

Impact : Impact of an event decides its newsworthiness. When the tsunami waves struck
several parts of the world, thousands of people were affected. It became major news for the whole
world. But if a cyclone kills 20 people in Bangladesh, it may not have any impact on other parts of
the world. When dengue fever affects 100 people in Delhi, it makes news not only in Delhi but in
other states also because the impact is more wide and people become more alert about the news.

Proximity : “Bird flu spreading and hundreds of chicken dying in England”. Does it make news
for you? You may read it but do not worry about it. But bird flu spreading in West Bengal will make
you alert. This is because it is in your proximity. A plane crash in Peru will not be big news in India,
but if an aircraft crashes in India, it will be headlines everywhere. So proximity decides the news.

Controversy: - People like controversies. Anything that is connected with conflicts,

arguments, charges and counter-charges, fights and tension becomes news. All of you might have
heard of Kargil. It was a conflict between India and Pakistan. It became great news all over the
world. Many of you may remember the controversy about the Indian and Australian cricket teams. It
was news for all the media. When terrorists crashed their plane into the World Trade Centre in New
York it was lead news everywhere.

Prominence: If a prominent person is involved in any event, it becomes news. If an ordinary

person’s car breaks down and he has to wait for ten minutes on the roadside till the vehicle is
repaired it makes no news. But if the Prime Minister’s car breaks down and his motorcade has to
stop for five minutes it becomes news. A person visiting Rajghat and paying homage to Gandhiji may
not be a news item, but when the US President visits Rajghat it becomes news.

Currency: News is about current events. Suppose the Olympic Games are held in India. It
becomes news because everybody is interested in it. Likewise when SAARC leaders meet in Delhi to
formulate future action plans, it becomes the current news. Similarly, if extreme cold weather
continues for a week and fog disrupts air, rail and road traffic, it becomes news.

Oddity:

An unusual thing makes news. Extraordinary and unexpected events generate public interest. You
might have seen box items in newspapers about such happenings . A man pulls a car by his hair, a
woman gives birth to triplets, a singer enters the Guinness Book by singing non-stop for 48 hours,
the painting of a famous artist is auctioned for a very expensive price . All such odd stories evoke
much public interest.

Emotion: Stories of human interest make good news items. For eg. the police rescue a school
boy kidnapped by mischief makers after a search of two weeks. The parents meet the boy in an
emotionally surcharged atmosphere. The story of this meeting with a photograph makes a good
human interest report. Doctors advise a girl in Pakistan to undergo a heart surgery urgently. But her
parents cannot afford the expenses. The Rotary Club of Delhi east offers help through their scheme
of ‘Gift of Life’. The girl comes to India and undergoes surgery successfully. While going back she and
her overwhelmed parents narrate their experiences in India. This makes a good human interest
story.

Usefulness: Sometimes news items help the public in various ways. You must have noticed
that weather forecasters warn fishermen not to go to the sea for fishing on certain days because of
rough weather. Newspapers gives the phone numbers of police stations, hospitals, ambulance
services etc. to help people. You might have seen in newspapers, requests from relatives to donors
of blood for a patient in a critical condition. Newspapers also raise funds from the public to help
victims of disasters and natural calamities, like tsunami and earthquake.

Educational value: News has also an educational value. In almost all newspapers, you can
find columns about educational and job opportunities. These guide you about different educational
courses, career options available, opportunities for higher studies etc. These news items help you
become more knowledgeable.
(1.2) The Organizational Structure of a Television
Station

Local television stations are affiliates of networks such as ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox. These
stations broadcast local news and magazine shows, network programming, syndicated shows
and commercials. Television stations require the administrative support of a corporate enterprise
that includes a business manager, a human resources manager, and administrative assistants.
In addition, there are roles specific to the television industry.

General Manager
A general manager, or GM, is the chief executive officer of a television station. This person
manages the budget for the station, sets the human resources policies, hires and fires senior
staff, and oversees all programming and sales initiatives. These individuals create a strategic
plan for the organization and set benchmarks for achieving goals. General managers often have
a high profile in the community and form strategic partnerships with local organizations to raise
the visibility of the station within the market.
A broadcasting company is typically headed up by a chief executive or operations officer called
the general manager (GM). The GM has broad responsibilities for day-to-day affairs including
budgetary issues, legal compliance and liaising with the creative and production teams. The GM
also works closely with community-relations and marketing executives. Depending on the size of
the organization, the GM may have assistants that head up the organization's various sub-
divisions. Also working under the GM are a team of administrators and human resource
professionals who answer phones and emails, pay bills and help hire staff.

A floor manager is a member of the crew of a television show. The floor manager is

responsible for giving information from the director in the control room, to the crew on the
studio floor, and then back to the director.

Production Managers are responsible for all the organisational aspects of production scheduling
and budgeting. They work across all genres in television production including documentaries,
current affairs, light entertainment or children's programmes, situation comedies, soaps or serial
dramas, or one off dramas. 

Sales And Traffic

The sales and traffic departments are focused on selling on-air advertising and assuring those
commercials air as scheduled, respectively. A sales department consists of a sales manager who
oversees a staff of salespersons, who meet with clients in person and on the phone to sell air
time, and sales assistants, who handle the administrative work of the sales department, which
can include writing ad copy and interacting with the traffic department. The manager of the traffic
department assures that ads air as scheduled, that the correct number of spots air, and that
there are no conflicts in the ad schedule. For example, there shouldn't be two ads for two
different local car dealers airing back to back.
News
The news department does reporting and local content for the daily newscast. This department is
run by the news director, who enforces editorial policy and hires and manages staff. The rest of
the news department consists of both on-air and off-air positions. Newscasts require an anchor,
a sports person, a meteorologist, and correspondents or reporters. Behind the scenes news staff
can include a desk assistant, who monitors news and can refer stories to reporters; researchers,
who provide background for stories; producers, who write scripts and perform technical duties for
the news show; and online staff, who adapt television material for online or create original
content.

Engineering
Maintaining all the equipment is the responsibility of Engineering .The director of
operations, or chief engineer, assures that the station stays on the air and that all of the physical
and technical aspects of the station are in working order and in compliance with standards set by
 the Federal Communications Commission. This includes management and maintenance of all
equipment, including the transmitter as well as all cameras, monitors and digital editing
equipment. This individual may manage the camera operators, the directors, who oversee the
content and technical aspects of the television program, and the engineers, who operate and
maintain internal and external electronic television equipment.

CAMERA MEN: Cameramen are the seldom seen eyes behind broadcast
news, filming for both television and online sources while a reporter on the other
side of the camera holds the spotlight and tells the story. These photojournalists
often work odd hours to capture events and breaking stories for morning and
evening air times. news cameraman film anchors, reporters and in-studio
interviewees for broadcast. These cameramen may be one of a team of camera
operators shooting from different fixed locations to get a variety of angles. News
cameramen often come to the job with a two- or four-year degree in videography,
camera operation or journalism. This prepares them to understand the tenets of
news, to operate everything from cameras to editing equipment, and to produce
engaging stories anchored by the images they capture. Cameramen need an eye
for images, the flexibility to quickly shift tasks or stories, and a strong
understanding of digital production. 

 REPORTERS: 1) Collects and analyzes information about

newsworthy events to write news stories for publication or broadcast:
Receives assignment or evaluates news leads and news tips to develop
story idea.

 2) Gathers and verifies factual information regarding story through

interview, observation, and research.

 3) Organizes material, determines slant or emphasis, and writes story

according to prescribed editorial style and format standards.

 4) May monitor police and fire department radio communications to

obtain story leads.

 5) May take photographs or shoot video to illustrate stories.

 6) May edit, or assist in editing, videos for broadcast.

 7) May appear on television program when conducting taped or filmed

interviews or narration.

 8) May give live reports from site of event or mobile broadcast unit.

 9) May transmit information to NEWSWRITER for story writing.

 10) May specialize in one type of reporting, such as sports, fires,

accidents, political affairs, court trials, or police activities.

 11) May be assigned to outlying areas or foreign countries and be

designated Correspondent or Foreign Correspondent.

NEWS ANCHOR: A news anchor presents news stories on radio and

television news broadcasts. He or she introduces reporters' videotaped and live
reports, analyzes and selects stories, and interviews guests. News anchorsare
usually required to have a presence on social media.

A news anchor is a journalist who educates others to the issues that

continuously change and shape the world, whether locally, nationally or
internationally. The news anchor delivers the day's events on a news program,
and may comment or provide professional insight on complicated issues that are
reported.

A news anchor is responsible for interpreting happenings locally, nationally, and

internationally for a wide audience. This entails keeping at the forefront of news that has an
impact on the viewing audience. Commentary is often provided to help people understand
how the news affects their daily lives. Millions of people get their news from the daily evening
or late night report, and come to trust and favour a particular news anchor. Successful news
anchors have many followers, and are still remembered years later for covering specific
events in history.
News anchors can also conduct interviews with people who impact media happenings from
around the world. Interviews help to open a discussion or clarify issues that influence the
news or media happenings. An interview can help broaden the audience's understanding of
a particular issue or begin a discourse on an issue important to the audience. Important skills
necessary for a news anchor when interviewing others is the ability to put people at ease,
and remembering to be unbiased.

(1.3)Qualities and Responsibilities of News

Personnel
A reporter is a person who gathers information and writes about it. A

reporter is a type of journalist who researches and presents information

in the mass media. A reporter is a person who writes news stories for a

newspaper, magazine, etc and also tells news on the radio and

television. Reporters gather their information in a variety of ways

including tips, press releases and witness events. They perform

research through interviews, public records, and other sources. The

information gathering part of the job is sometimes called “ reporting” as

distinct from the production part of the job.

To become a good reporter, h/she usually should have a college degree.

The degree is often in journalism, but it is not compulsorily. While hiring

reporters, editors give much weight to the reporter’s previous work. Their

work can often make them into minor celebrities. Most reporters earn

less salary. Reporters must exercise their multiple responsibilities with

sincerity and honesty. The competent reporters follow the principles of

writing in good form and style.

Reporters are always in the midst of the real action. They face the finest

as well as the worst situation. They usually meet with the most powerful

leaders or the most famous celebrities. They face danger and death with

courage and dedication. They are always curious and adventures. The

news report eventually lands on the news desk. The process of editing

comes into operation, through a series of steps produces a package of

information ready for the mass communication.

Every reporter is supposed to have qualities. Some of them have special

qualities. Some of the special qualities that are to be in reporter are as

follow:

1. Quality education

To become a good reporter they must complete their graduation in

journalism as the major subject. Otherwise, they have to get some

training course on journalism. They must be quick in writing down the

facts.

2. Good Health

Good health is the another common quality of all the reporters.

Sometimes the Reporters have to wait long to get the news. They also

don’t get time to sleep, sometimes. So, they must be careful to maintain

their health.
3. Stress management

Today, stress is a big problem to many people. Reporters go and meet

different people to interact, so sometimes they themselves may lose

their temper. Sometimes they may lose their public relations, audience

and news source. The reporter should speak politely. They should be

patient and contingent to handle the situation.

4. Punctuality

The reporters must be punctual as the media house itself is a timely

organization. Reporters must meet the deadline to publish or broadcast

the news. Otherwise, they will lose the important news. The value of

news may remain no more if the suitable chance is missed. Reporters

must be like the needle of the watch, it must run with the time likewise,

the reporters should be able to report on time .

5. Firm determination

A firm determination is a basic factor for the news reporter. News media

always run with first and foremost basis. If the reporter loses a news, not

only the reporter but the media organization will go behind in the

competition market. Reporters should not rest until they find the news

completely.

6. Discipline
Discipline is one of the major ornaments of the reporters. They should

not forget their goal of being the successful reporter. They must go

anywhere at any time to collect important news. Therefore, self-discipline

is very important to control and guide them to the right path of reporting.

7. Sincerity

Reporters should be sincere in each and every task of reporting .They

should do what the journalistic ethics allow them to do and don’t do

something that they promised to avoid.

8. Credibility

Credibility is something that every good reporter should have. In other

words, a reporter must exhibit characters and behaviors that make him

or her trustable person in the society.

9. Courage and Confidence

Without courage and confidence, it is difficult for a person to be a good

reporter.A good reporter should be courageous and confident. Timidity

on the part of any reporter will get them nowhere.

10. Experience and Efficiency

A person who is experienced must be efficient also. A reporter endowed

with such two qualities can perform his reporting with quality and

standard.
11. Nose for news

The nose of the news is the most important quality for professional

reporters. The good reporters must have to have good news hunting

capacity. They must be careful to find out what is strange and unique to

many people. Even a tiny matter can be big scandals news if a good

reporter really tries to dig out the roots. Good reporters should have the

ability to disseminate the good news .

12. Curiosity, alertness, and impartiality

Good reporters must be curious. They enjoy reading and appreciate the

details. They are always alert to all probable news, news sources and

news sense. They are quick to reach the destination, where important

news can be available. They are equally critical to inspect and evaluate

all related sides of the news story.

13. Intelligence and Courage

Good reporters must be intelligent and courageous. Courage helps them

to develop a skin to deflect the inevitable criticism. They must write

something that may hurt someone’s prestige but not the ethics of the

journalism. Intelligence is also the most important attribute a reporter

could have. Similarly, courage is necessary to stand corrected, courage

to take criticism, courage to grow with the experiences, courage to

accept what you don’t understand.

14. Language expertise

Good reporter should learn to communicate idea in correct and effective

language. They should write in simple, direct pose without using

complicated sentences. A good reporter should report in such a way that

the targeted audience can understand. Otherwise, his news will not

make any sense. We know that a good student is a half journalist. He

has the sense of journalistic presentation. So, a reporter must be a

language expert.

15. Handling media equipment

The Professional reporters must know how to operate Dictaphone, digital

movie camera, mobile and satellite phones, essential computer

programming like the word, excel, power-point, page maker, photoshop,

Dreamweaver etc. He must have knowledge of English/Nepali typing

skills, knowledge to operate email and the internet etc.

16. Faithfulness and Neutrality

The Report must be free from biased information. The information

provided in the report must be reliable and valid. False, invalid and

biased information are supposed to hamper the decision .

17. Knowledge of Structure and Presentation

How to write down all relevant and necessary information maintaining a

proper structure should be known to a good reporter. He must know how

to present the facts and information in a simple but effective way. So,

Knowledge of structure and presentation are necessary qualities to be

possessed by a reporter.

18. Patience

Making a good and perfect report is a complicated task. It may need time

and labor. A good reporter should have such patience for completing the

task properly and timely.

(1.4)News Sources and Monitoring Services

In journalism, a source is a person, publication, or other record or document that gives

timely information. Outside journalism, sources are sometimes known as "news sources".

Examples of sources include official records, publications or broadcasts, officials in

government or business, organizations or corporations, witnesses of crime, accidents or

other events, and people involved with or affected by a news event or issue.

NEWS SOURCES: TYPES; CREDIBILITY AND PROTECTION

A Newspaper requires everyday hundreds of stories to be printed on various pages under
different sections. The same is the case with an electronic media organisation- a radio station
or a TV news channel. How to get new, more and more news, is a challenge which any news
organisation has to meet. This hunger for news is never ending.

Newspapers have their own sources of getting the news which are authentic and reliable.
Newspapers depends on them and get the news they want. Those manning these sources of
news are trained people who work in a highly professional manner.

TYPES OF NEWS SOURCES

For the coverage of any event, incident or happening, a reporter has to bank on his/ her
sources. These Sources can broadly be divided into two categories:

EXTERNAL/ IDENTIFIED/ KNOWN / SCHEDULED SOURCES

In this category, all such sources can be included which are available and accessible to a
reporter. The reporters mostly cover public meetings, functions, seminars, lectures or any
other similar kind of programme. These are scheduled programmes where the date, time,
venue, agenda or topic of discussion, occasion, everything is pre-decided.

Press Conferences and press briefings are also regular sources of news. These are scheduled
events and the hosts also will always approach the reporters for attending them. The sources
in all the above mentioned events/ programmes, are identified and can be quoted by the
reporters. The Principal/ Director of the college or a senior functionary of NGO/ Social
service organisation will be a source for the seminar to be organised for discussing some
social/ contemporary issue.

Press conferences and press briefings are addressed by the persons in authority- an
administrative or police officer, a minister, a spokesperson, an industrialist or big
businessman, or an eminent personality. These are considered official and authentic sources
mostly known to common people.

In fact, a lot of information flows from government sources. For instance in a district, DM/
Collector is the most important and reliable source for the reporter. The government
information office in a district further carries forward the information received from the state
headquarters through the District Magistrate. In the case of Development programme and
schemers, Chief Development Officer/ District Development Officer becomes an important
source.

In a crime related incidents, top police officers like inspectors or sub-inspector are vital
sources. Sometimes the spectators in a public meeting, scheme and eyewitness of an incident
can also be an important source. But a reporter should always be careful of the credential of
such source before using him/her in the report.

Because all details in the news story are facts gathered by the reporter, the information in
every story should be traceable to its source. Te source should be named and statements
should be attributed to the person who made them.

INTERNAL CONFIDENTIAL SOURCES/ PERSONAL CONTACTS

These are the sources developed by the reporter on hi/ her own. They are termed as contacts
of a reporter. Any reporter would have a variety of reliable and highly placed contacts. These
contacts are sources of exclusive information for the reporter.

These sources may be in the government, public or private sector business or just anywhere.
A reporter has to work hard to develop a source in any office or department. These are the
exclusive sources who act in close confidence with the reporter. These sources can e trapped
till the time the natural trust is maintained. If the source has some vested interest, the
reporters are mostly ready to oblige.
However, most of the confidential sources are good people who join hands with the reporter
for some good cause. But in many case, the concerned people might not be aware of the fact
that they are being used as source by some reporters. Some of the personal contacts of a
reporter may like to be quoted for the story as it gives them publicity. In case of a critical
story, they may not risk their neck. In such a case, the reporter has to put in the story-
According to Sources................... [Instead of writing official or authentic sources].

TAPPING THE NEWS SOUCES

A reporter faces a lot of obstacles in newsgathering, the most serious one is tapping sources
for news. Knowing the source and having the access to it is a challenge before a reporter.
There are everyday informants to help the reporters and who among these informant can turn
to regular and dependable source is something to be explored by the concerned reporter.

Sources could be diverse. From legislators to ministers, secretaries, political appointees to

corporators and MCD officials, everybody qualifies to be a source. A reporter should be
careful enough not to make any promise to the source. For example, a reporter collects some
information from a source, uses it for writing a news report and submits the report to the chief
reporter. The reporters finally not cleared by the news editor and so doesn't appear in the
newspaper. If the reporter has made a confirm commitment to the source about the
publication of the news report, he/she will find it difficult to save face in case of non-
publication.

A reporter faces some other problems as well. Sometimes, the source goes missing at the
hour of need, an over talkative source can confuse, a sophisticated source can come out with
modest information less than what is desired, afresh source may indulge in gossip and
rumours. While quoting numbers to the source, a reporter should always be careful.

Sources of News are everywhere. Sources of News can be listless, Some of the sources are:
1. Academic Journals : Research by academics, published in Journals is a frequent
source of News.
2. Armed Forces: In peacetime, the armed forces can generate stories through
mysterious death. During times of conflict, military briefings become events in their
own right.
3. Campaigns: Campaigners who want to influence public opinion on subject ranging
from animal rights to environment are likely to come up with opinions or events that
might generate news.
4. Commerce and Trade: Business organisations can be useful source of news or
comments about anything from interest rates to shares to shopping.
5. Council Press Offices: Local authorities employ teams of press officers. They react
to journalists queries, regarding information, quotes, contacts etc. So, council press
officers are good source.
6. Court Hearings: Court reporters dip in and out of several court rooms, looking for
cases that fit into the news values. Here good contacts with court staff, police,
solicitors and other should be realised.
7. Entertainment Industry: It is an increasingly important source for today's media
celebrities.
8. Government News Coverage: The government news network produces vast number
of news release on behalf of government departments.
9. Health Authorities and Hospitals: Outbreak of serious disease, funding crisis,
hospital closures and health promotions are examples of news stories that arise from
health authorities.
10. Libraries: Libraries retain a useful role in providing access to reference books,
company reports, local history archives, indexes of local societies etc.
11. News Agencies: News agencies keep a check on offices and local bodies.
Newspapers, Radio, T.V., big news media houses depends largely on the news. For
Ex: AP ( Associated Press of America Print), Reuters (UK), PTI (Press Trust of
India).
12. News Releases: News or press releases are point of reference for journalist while
covering an event.
13. Notice Boards: Notices in shops, offices, libraries, colleges and elsewhere may also
become the source of News.
14. Other Media: A newspaper monitors other papers, T.V, Radio, News sites on the
web. Hence, Each medium monitors other medium.
15. People: Potential stories can be suggest by people you meet while at work, rest and
play.
16. Political Parties: Contacts, between parties are fruitful for news stories.
 17. PR Companies: This industry provides the journalist and us a peek into media world
every day.
18. Press Conferences: Press conferences are likely to be held to announce the results of
official enquiries.
19. Universities: Universities are the source of a huge range of stories. For Ex: Ground
Breaking Research, an unusual Degree Scheme and ethical arguments.

CREDIBILITY OF SOURCE
Often government sources are reluctant to talk to news reporters if they consider some
information sensitive. If a reporter wants to know something from the secretary of a ministry
but the secretary does not cooperate with him, s/he will go to other officials in the ministry. If
none of them talks, s/he may be tempted to talk to the personal assistant or some other staff
or even to some friend or relation of the secretary.

The ideal relationship between a reporter and his/her sources is that of mutual trust. If the
reporter does not enjoy the trust of his/her source, s/he will not get their co-operation.

A reporter should rely on the source only when his/her credibility is established. If the source
is genuine and has provided the correct and accurate information, the reporter, would be able
to file an authentic report. It is the responsibility of the reporter to ensure the truthfulness of a
report by having reliable sources.

MONITORING SERVICES
A media monitoring service, a press clipping service or a clipping service as known in
earlier times, provides clients with copies of media content, which is of specific interest to
them and subject to changing demand; what they provide may include documentation,
content, analysis, or editorial opinion, specifically or widely. These services tend to
specialize their coverage by subject, industry, size, geography, publication, journalist, or
editor. The printed sources, which could be readily monitored, greatly expanded with the
advent of telegraphy and submarine cables in the mid- to late-19th century; the various types
of media now available proliferated in the 20th century, with the development
of radio, television, the photocopier and the World Wide Web. Though media monitoring is
generally used for capturing content or editorial opinion, it also may be used to capture
advertising content.
Every news channel has there own monitoring services. They heir these agencies to look
after there contents which has to be broadcasted. They decide which news is more worthy to
be braoadcated and which news can get more TRP’s.

Online media monitoring services utilize automated software called spiders or robots (bots)
to automatically monitor the content of free online news sources including newspapers,
magazines, trade journals, TV station and news syndication services. Online services
generally provide links but may also provide text versions of the articles. Results may or may
not be verified for accuracy by the online monitoring service. Most newspapers do not
include all of their print content online and some have web content that does not appear in
print.
The International Association of Broadcast Monitors (IABM) is a worldwide trade
association made up of news retrieval services which record, monitor and archive broadcast
news sources including television, radio and internet. It acts as a "clearinghouse" or "forum"
for discussion on topics of collective concerns and acts as a united voice for the news
monitoring industry.
Every organization that uses PR invariably uses news monitoring as well. In addition to
tracking their own publicity, self-generated or otherwise, news monitoring clients also use the
service to track competition or industry specific trends or legislation, to build a contact base
of reporters, experts, leaders for future reference, to audit the effectiveness of their PR
campaigns, to verify that PR, marketing and sales messages are in sync, and to measure
impact on their target market. City, State, and Federal agencies use news monitoring
services to stay informed in regions they otherwise would not be able to monitor themselves
and to verify that the public information disseminated is accurate, accessible in multiple
formats and available to the public. Some monitoring services specialize in one or more
areas of press clipping, TV and radio monitoring, or internet tracking. Media analysis is also
offered by most news monitoring services.
SOME OF THE POPULAR MEDIA MONITORING AGENCIES ARE:
 Indian Media Monitor (Delhi)
 Media Tracking of India (Mumbai)
 Press Clipping Information Service (Delhi)
Other News Monitoring Sources:
 AAP NewsCentre – Provides customised information drawn from Australian publications,
plus news that affects business and competitors.

 Adz Media Monitoring – Rates, TV storyboards, and media search requests for Canadian and
U.S. television, radio and print. A library with more than 175,000 advertisements on file for
research and analysis.
 AirCheck News Taping – A full-service broadcast monitor providing national and local news
segments and reports.

 Allison’s Press Clipping Service – Professional press clipping service in the U.S.

 Amiplan: Advanced Media Information – A database of events for the next eighteen months,
continually updated by a team of journalists and broadly divided into News and
Entertainment. Each item is integrated with a press directory, listing essential information,
including telephone numbers and email addresses.

 Apollo Performance Research Centre – Monthly analysis of technology news stories from
hundreds of sources in the UK. Provides public relations evaluation that measures success of
activity, and identifies how companies can boost coverage.

 BBC Monitoring – Includes news, information and comment gathered from the mass media
around the world for service subscribers.

 Broadcast Monitors – TV and radio news monitoring and tracking services including video
and audio clips and transcripts.

 BulletinNEWS – Offers human-edited analysis of the news and can be provided daily as a
concise, customized memo.
`
 BurrellesLuce – Covers thousands of print, broadcast and web news sources, and provides
online access to current media contacts

UNIT II
 (2.1)Characteristics and Essentials of TV Language

News style, journalistic style, or news-writing style is the prose style used

for newsreporting in media such as newspapers, radio and television.

News is very important thing in today's media scenario and there are a numbers of factors
to modify the
importance of news in actual practice.

The policy of news medium may increase or diminish the importance of the story.

The class of viewers and listeners that dominates the audience of a channel

determines largely what isnews for that medium.

The amount of time available on television determines whether is told briefly or
in detail and thus time alters the value of a news story.

Repeating the same news also sometimes decreases the importance of a news story.

How do you write a news story? News writing follows a basic formula; there
are key elements every news story follows. While styles can diverge more
dramatically depending on the kind of story -– a feature story may look and
sound very different than a hard news one -- all news stories are cut from
the same mold. The first element of news writing is, of course, to deliver the
news.

Essentials for TV Language:-

i) The 5 W’s

Most people have heard of the 5 W’s, even if they’ve never taken a
journalism class.

What?
What happened? What is the event?
When?
When it occurred, at what time it took place?
Where?
The place, where the incident occurred.
Who?
The persons involved at that occasion.
Why?
The reason of that particular issue.
How?
The sequence of the event.
The W’s in question, as you probably know, refer to the Who, What, When,
Where and Why that every story should address. Depending on what the
story is, how and when you answer those W’s may change. If, for example,
you’re reporting on a drive-by shooting in a city, you’ll likely start with where
the crime happened (what street or area of town for the local paper) and
who was involved (if you don’t have names or the people are regular
citizens, you might refer to notable affiliations if, say, the victim and
presumed perpetrator were gang members).

Figuring out what details to give a reader, and when, is key in constructing
a story. The answer, of course, depends on the facts. If you’re working on
the above story, and the murder happens to be one of a string of similar cr\
imes, that may be the point you open the story with. If, however, the above
story revolved around someone of note being shot, that might be what you
start your piece with.

ii) Crafting a Lede

A lede, which is a journalism slang term for the first sentence or two of a
story (i.e. lead), is an incredibly important part of the process.

Like all forms of writing, there’s no hard and fast rule about what makes a
great lede. A good lede changes depending on the story you’re writing.
One of the best ways to get familiar with what a good lede is is to read.
Read lots of different stories. Read breaking news stories. Read features.
Read reviews. Ledes vary wildly but, you’ll start to notice patterns and,
more importantly, what kinds of ledes you like and feel are effective. You
can get more basics from this piece from the University of Arkansas on
ledes, but I suggest following it up with lots of reading.

iii) Getting Your Nutgraf

A nutgraf, another journalism slang term, is the summarization of what the
story’s about. A nutgraf (also written with as “nut graf”) can be a sentence
or a paragraph and, sometimes, may also be your lede.

Nutgrafs are incredibly important. Some might argue hey are the heart of
a story because they relay why the story matters. A nutgraf needs to
address why the story is being written, whether the piece is about
something like the aforementioned murder, or a profile of a famous
celebrity.

Like ledes, nutgrafs vary wildly from story to story. Nutgrafs can also be

harder to identify than ledes so a good exercise to read lots of different
stories and try to find the nutgraf. (If you do this outside of a classroom
setting, it might be a good idea to find someone who can go over your
findings with you.)

iv) How Style Comes Into Play

The basics outlined above apply directly to all stories but, most obviously,
to your classic news story. That said all stories have ledes and nutgrafs, no
matter what they’re about or where you find them. These elements are
applied differently, and often more subtly, in long-form journalism
and feature stories, but they’re still there. All (good) stories have ledes and
nutgraf.

Intro
It means the introduction and it is first and the foremost part of the news as it
contains the gist of wholenews. Many features and essay have also the intro.

Credit line
Credit line is the thing mentioned in the start of a news that's is the place
of news with its source from
where it has been obtained

Body text
Intro is followed by the body text that contains the details of
a particular storybiggest news stories of the day and there you’ll find
straight, hard news. It might be local, it might be international. Then hit the
features section of the paper. 

v) KISS RULE: KISS is an acronym for "Keep it simple, stupid" as a design

principle noted by the U.S. Navy in 1960. The KISS principle states that most
systems work best if they are kept simple rather than made complicated;
therefore simplicity should be a key goal in design and unnecessary complexity
should be avoided.

CHARACTERSTICS OF NEWS LANGUAGE

i) Fairness and balance
As a reporter you must learn to get the other point of view. This may mean calling a person
late at night to get his side of the story or even holding back an investigative story for a day.
But you must do so. This is the best way to bring balance in the copy.

There may be times when an individual may avoid making a statement. In such a case, state
the point, indicating the efforts you made to get his point of view.

Fairness requires that you don’t impute motives. Remember that your news report is going to
be read by hundreds of people, and you can influence their thinking by using loaded words.
It is always best to use neutral words.

2)Accuracy
This is the first requirement of a good news report. You must get all your facts right, starting
from the name and designation of the subject to the statements made by him or her. You
cannot hide behind the excuse that that there was not enough time to cross check the facts.

The facts that you need to check are:

 Names and their spellings

 Designations
 Incident details. In case it is an accident you must know the exact number of people who were
injured or killed.
 Statements: The quote reported in the news report must be accurate, and in context. It should
not be misinterpreted to imply another meaning.
 If it is a science story you must make sure that all scientific names are correctly spelt, and
explained.
 If it is a sports story then you must make sure that the number of runs made or goals scored
are mentioned accurately.
 If it is a court story you must make sure that the court verdict is presented accurately.

3) Attribution
All news reports, with a few exceptions, must be sourced. The source can be identified as
follows:
a. Individual: An individual, who witnessed an accident or survived an earthquake, can be
quoted by name as an eyewitness.

b. Organisation: A spokesperson authorised by an organisation to brief the media on its

Brevity
4)  
The importance of this characteristic cannot be overstressed. You must learn to write short
stories without missing important facts. Please remember that today’s reader is in a hurry.
He does not have the patience to go through long news reports.

Brevity does not mean writing a short story. It also means using short words, short
sentences and short paragraphs.

5)Clarity
This is not easy to achieve. You are required to report an event in as few words as possible.
You can do this if you use short and simple words and keep out irrelevant facts. The intro of
your report must be short and crisp. The body must be made up of as few paragraphs as
possible with each paragraph devoted to one point.

There should be not be biased. The facts must be sourced, and accurate.
 (2.2)News Writing: Concepts and Elements

News Elements 
What makes a story newsworthy? Pay close attention to these 10
elements of newsworthiness to see which apply to your particular
announcement. Good news stories have more than one of these
elements.

1. Proximity: Location, location, location. If an event is happening

nearby, it will impact readers more than if it were happening somewhere
else that doesn't affect them as much – in another state or in another
country. Depending on the story, it may as well be the same thing.

2. Prominence: A well-known person, place or event has a stronger

news angle than something that the audience isn’t familiar with.

3. Timeliness: Current news has more impact than something that

happened yesterday or last week. The news media loses interest in past
events because there is always fresh news somewhere.

4. Oddity: If something is unusual, shocking or bizarre, the strangeness

alone could make it newsworthy. Think Octo-Mom.

5. Consequence: If the impact of an event may directly affect readers,

they will want to know about it. A run-of-the-mill burglary at the
Watergate Hotel was white noise on the airwaves until it became clear
what the identities of the key players meant for the nation. That bit of
news cost a U.S. President his seat.

6. Conflict: Readers are always interested in disagreements, arguments

and rivalries. If an event has a conflict attached to it, many readers will
be interested on that basis alone. Let's not forget that it's human nature
to choose sides and stand up for that choice. Stories that involve conflict
include those about religion, sports, business, trials, wars, human rights
violations, politics or even struggles against nature, animals or outer
space.

7. Human interest: If a situation draws any sort of emotional reaction,

then it might contain the news element of a human-interest story. These
stories can be "soft" kid-at-the-petting-zoo snapshots, inspiring
comeback accounts or infuriating reports of incompetence on the part of
a public figure.

8. Extremes/superlatives: Reporters and audiences alike love to hear

about the first, the best, the longest, the smallest, the highest.

9. Scandal: Everyone loves to hate on the philandering congressman

who sends inappropriate pictures under an absurd virtual handle. If
you've got info on an honest-to-goodness scandal, reporters everywhere
are frothing at the mouth to get the scoop on it.

10. Impact: Whether it's a peaceful protest that encompasses five city

blocks or a 23-car pileup on the pike, the more people involved in the
event, the more newsworthy it is. Similarly, the number of people
affected by the event will affect its newsworthiness, whether it's an
adjustment of minimum wage or an alleged outbreak of ebola.
- Who?
- What?
- When?
- Where?
- Why?
- How?

11) Sex:
It is an integral part of human life. Sex is a vital news element in stories
of romance, marriage, divorce and other illicit relationships among
members of opposite sexes as readers want their emotions stirred.

12) Progress
It involves any significant change for the betterment of humanity. It may also refer to
an achievement in the laboratory, industry or a legislative body etc.

A number of factors modify the importance of news elements in actual practice; the
policy of a news medium may increase or decrease the importance of a story. The
class of readers, listeners and viewers that dominate the audience of a paper, radio
or television determines largely what is going to be presented. The amount of space
available to a paper or the amount of time available on radio or television determines
whether a story is to be told briefly or in detail. Time often alters the value of a story
and finally the previous presentation of a story, on any medium, changes its value .
 Timeliness: News about a recent story.
- Proximity: News about places near your publication.
- Prominence: News about a widely known person.
- Consequence: News about the result of something someone has done.
- Human Interest: News that causes people to have emotion.
- Conflict: News about problems that give the reader tension and suspense.
- Other Factors: Money, disaster, novelty, oddity, drama, etc

Some Key Terms Examples

- Timeliness: A newspaper that makes a story about football in November rather than
June. 
- Proximity: A minor dropout problem in our school is more important than a major
problem in a school 500 miles away.
- Prominence: The star quarterback flunks a math exam and is ineligible for the big
game. 
- Consequence: The effect on construction plans for a new school in your town if steel or
railroad workers are on strike. 
- Conflict: Former husbands and wives fighting over who will win custody of their
children.

(2.3)Writing for Visuals: Simple News stories, Writing

Intros / Opening, Headlines & Closing / Concluding.

The intro is the most important part of any news story. It should be
direct, simple and attention-grabbing. It should contain the most
important elements of the story - but not the whole story. The details can
be told later.
It should arouse the interest of the reader or listener, and be short.
Normally it should be one sentence of not more than 20 words for print
media, and fewer for radio and television.

The perfect intro

 The intro should be based on the most newsworthy aspect of the

story.
 The intro should be kept short, uncluttered and relevant to the main
story. It should be simple grammatically.
 The intro should make the reader want to read the rest of the story.
 The intro should be appropriate in style to the story.

Newsworthy
To write an intro, you must first decide what makes the story news. There
may be several things which are newsworthy in the story. If so, you have
to decide which is the most newsworthy. This will be in the intro.

In this way, your readers or listeners will be provided with the most
important information straight away. Even if they stop reading or listening
after the first one or two sentences, they will still have an accurate idea of
what the story is about.

One simple way to do this is to imagine yourself arriving back at your

office and being asked by the chief of staff: "What happened?" Your quick
answer to that question, in very few words, should be the basis of your
intro.

With some years of experience, you will find that you can recognise the
most newsworthy aspect of a story almost without thinking. While you are
still learning, though, it is useful to have a step-by-step technique to use.
We shall explain this technique in detail later in this chapter.

Short and simple

Your intro should normally be no longer than 20 words. There is no
minimum length. An intro of 10 or 12 words can be very effective.

Usually, an intro will be one sentence. However, two short sentences are
better than one long, crowded and confused sentence.

The words you use should be short and simple, and the grammar should
be clear and simple.
You should not try to give too much detail in the intro. The six main
questions which journalists try to answer - Who? What? Where?
When? Why? and How? - will all need to be answered in your news
story, but they should not all be answered in your intro. Try to remember
these questions as The Five Ws and H - WWWWWH.

For each of those six key questions, you will need to ask whether this
detail makes the story news. For example, who was drowned? A woman
called Mary. Suppose it had been somebody else - would the story have
been stronger, weaker or the same? Only if this detail makes the story
stronger should it be in the intro.

The golden rule for intro-writing is KISS - Keep It Short and Simple.

Attract the reader

The intro is the most important part of the news story, because it
determines whether the rest of the story will be read.

If the intro is dull the reader will not want to read on. If it is too
complicated the reader will give up.

Your time and effort in gathering information and writing the story will all
be wasted unless you write a good intro.

Appropriate style
Not all possible intros are appropriate. It would be wrong to write a
humorous intro for a story about a tragedy. Serious news stories call for
serious intros.

For example, if a man was eaten by the pet crocodile he had reared from
an egg, it might seem amusing to use the saying about "biting the hand
that feeds you", but it would cause great hurt to the man's family and
friends for no good reason (apart from trying to show how clever you
are).

Simple steps in writing the intro:

Later, we will look in detail at how you gather information for a news
story. For the moment, we will concentrate on how you write your news
story based on that information.

You will have in front of you a notebook or a tape with a record of one or
more interviews which you have conducted. You may also have
information from other sources, such as handouts. Wherever your
information comes from, your approach must be the same.

Key points

Before you write anything, you have to decide what is the most
newsworthy aspect of the story. To do this, let us remind ourselves of the
main criteria for news:

 Is it new?
 Is it unusual?
 Is it interesting or significant?
 Is it about people?

Any fact or opinion which meets some or all of these criteria is what we
call a key point. All the key points belong in the news story, but only the
most newsworthy belong in the intro. It is your job to decide which.

Go through your notes, go through the handouts and, on a piece of paper,

list all the key points. 

Now go through the list of key points, ranking them in order of

newsworthiness, according to the criteria we have just mentioned. The
key point which best meets the criteria will be number one on your list.

About Ledes

The introduction to a news article is called the 'lede' and is usually in the first
paragraph as in an essay. The 'lede' is a deliberate misspelling of 'lead' to prevent
confusion in the days when printing was done with lead type.
The lede not only tells what the story is about, it also invites the reader to read
further. Ledes answer the classic 5 W's and an H questions of journalism:
What happened? What could happen?
Who did it? Who did it happen to? Who else was involved?
Where did it happen? Where else will be impacted?
When did it happen? When is it going to happen?
Why did it happen? Why will your reader care?
How did it happen? How does it work?
Tips for Writing a Lead

1. The Five W’s and H: Before writing a lead, decide which aspect of
the story – who, what, when, where, why, how – is most important.
You should emphasize those aspects in your lead. Wait to explain
less important aspects until the second or third sentence.
2. Conflict: Good stories have conflict. So do many good leads.
3. Specificity: Though you are essentially summarizing information in
most leads, try to be specific as possible. If your lead is too broad,
it won’t be informative or interesting.
4. Brevity: Readers want to know why the story matters to them and
they won’t wait long for the answer. Leads are often one sentence,
sometimes two. Generally, they are 25 to 30 words and should
rarely be more than 40. This is somewhat arbitrary, but it’s
important – especially for young journalists – to learn how to deliver
information concisely. See the OWL’s page on concise writing for
specific tips. The Paramedic Method is also good for writing
concisely.
5. Active sentences: Strong verbs will make your lead lively and
interesting. Passive constructions, on the other hand, can sound dull
and leave out important information, such as the person or thing
that caused the action. Incomplete reporting is often a source
of passive leads.
6. Audience and context: Take into account what your reader
already knows. Remember that in today’s media culture, most
readers become aware of breaking news as it happens. If you’re
writing for a print publication the next day, your lead should do
more than merely regurgitate yesterday’s news.
7. Honesty: A lead is an implicit promise to your readers. You must
be able to deliver what you promise in your lead.

TYPES OF LEADS:
1. Straight  lead (or Summary lead):  good lead incorporates the
inverted pyramid style with the most important facts first. It tells
readers what they want to know in a creative manner. If the reader
only read the lead, he or she would have a solid grasp of the story.
The above accident report can be written in a straight lead.
Journalists often resort to summary leads pressed for time. 
2.  Descriptive lead
 A descriptive lead describes how an event happened rather than
simply telling what the event is about. 
3. Quotation lead 
Quotes frequently are the essential documentation for a lead and
should be used immediately after a paraphrase that summarizes
them.This lead would add an element of interest such as drama,
 pathos, humour, astonishment, or some other factor that will reach
out to the reader.
4. Question lead 
Many editors dislike question lead on the basis that people read
newspapers to get answers, and not to be asked questions. But if
the question is provocative, it may be used as a lead.
5. Blind identification lead 
If the person concerned is not well known in the community,
his/her name is less important than other salient facts that identify
the person. eg. "a 80-year-old woman" instead of her name.
6. Gag (or funny) lead 
A journalist who writes a funny story put up the saddest face in a
newsroom. Journalistic homour requires the skilled and practice.
Here is how an AP reporter wrote when a woman broke her leg
trying to climb out of a locked in public toilet: 

HEADLINES:
A headline's purpose is to quickly and briefly draw attention to the story. It is
generally written by a copy editor, but may also be written by the writer, the page
layout designer, or other editors.
The 4 Functions of an Effective Headline [or AdWord Heading]

1. To grab the readers attention.

2. To pre-screen or select your readers.
3. Deliver a complete message.
4. Draw a reader into the story.

A headline should grab the readers attention.

News is also effective, as it has the promise of seeing something

exciting and new. News headlines use words like new, discover,
announcing, first, just released, or introducing.
The biggest attention getter is, and you’ll see it constantly used in
AdWords, is “Free”. It is also the most dangerous because it raises the
reader’s expectations and if you don’t deliver they may hate you, they
certainly won’t trust you, and we kind of all know in the back of our mind
that there is no such thing a something for nothing [a separate article I
think].

A headline should pre-screen or select your readers.

The headline needs to be specific enough to screen your viewers. It
needs to tell the reader if the article is for them. Looking at a recent
headline from this site “The Buying Process“. It is actually a story about
the how the buying process can be related to a website, so the headline
should have had at least some indication of the fact that the story related
to websites. Remember to review your headlines out of their page
context; as they may be seen in RSS readers, search engine results and
others.
A headline should deliver a complete message

If you realize that many more people will read your headlines than will
read the complete article, the headline can be used to deliver a complete
message. Here’s a headline from Google News: “Rogers buys Call-
Net“. You can get the whole story from the headline. This type of
headline can be effective for branding if you include the site or company
name.

A headline should draw a reader into the story.

The ways to draw someone a story usually involve humor, intrigue or the
desire to find out more: curiosity. This can be done by asking a question
or by making a promise of useful information.

A headline is the gist of the whole news. It is important because it helps the

reader to identify the nature of the news so that they don't have to go through the
whole news to understand what it is about. ... Newspapers usually carry
shorter headlineswhich are also to the point.

following is a list of ten types of headlines followed by an example of each one.

1. Direct: Tell your prospect exactly what’s coming

2. Indirect: Use curiosity to raise a question in the reader’s mind. Use this
with some caution as you don’t want to attract and then disappoint
visitors. Example from Copyblogger : An article might have the
headline Fresh Bait Works Best and yet have nothing to do with fishing,
because it’s actually about writing timely content that acts as link bait.
3. News: If your product or service is newsworthy offer it in your headline
4. How to: With over 7,000 book titles starting with ‘How To’ you can’t go
wrong with this one. If you ever get stuck, try adding ‘how to’ in front of
your headline
5. Question: Ask an industry or market specific question but be careful when
using this one. You must know your market backwards otherwise you can
 blow your whole advertising campaign. The best types of questions to ask
are questions which get your prospect involved.
6. Command: this tells your customers what to do – encourage action by
also offering a benefit
7. Reason Why: give your prospect reasons why they should read your
article
8. Testimonial: use excerpts from testimonials to write winning headlines
9. Benefit: Benefits sell, features don’t. Know your market well so the
benefits you are writing about resonate.
10.Guarantee: State a desirable benefit and guarantee results or other
benefits – be sure you can back up your promises

Examples of Headline Types:

1. Direct: Learn How to Write Content Search Engines Can Find

2. Indirect – Fresh Bait Works Best (Example from Copyblogger)
3. News – Announcing a cure for…
4. How To – How to Increase Conversions
5. Question – Has Your Website Traffic Dropped?
6. Command – Stop Wasting Marketing Dollars
7. Reason Why – 25 Reasons to Eat Turkey
8. Testimonial – Great Looking Proposals in Minutes
9. Benefits – Drive Qualified Traffic at a Lower Cost
10.Guarantee – Generate 100 Leads in 60 days or it’s FREE

CONCLUSION/CLOSING:
I)Recall the Main Point

It is the most straightforward way to wrap things up. Simply recall your main
point with slightly different verbiage. It may not be very creative, but it
works. Bonus points for strong words and imagery!

2) Summarize Succinctly

Summarizing is different than reiterating. Instead of focusing on the main

point, a summary would wrap up with a quick revisit of your
document's body text.
3) Issue a Challenge

Spur your reader on by challenging them in some way. Invite them to prove
or disprove your point, or to think about the information you presented in a
new and innovative way. If they can comment or send a letter to the editor
or an op-ed piece, tell them how.

4) Mention or Point to the Future

This one tends to be easy. For example, if you were writing an article
about increasing your freelance writing rates, you could ask the reader to
consider the benefits of doing so, such as more savings, fewer work
hours, etc. It mentally places your reader in the future with your article in
mind, making it more likely he'll use the information or re-visit your
publication.

5) Make a New Connection

Ask the reader to consider new information or a new connection brought

on by your article. Connect your article to the bigger picture.

 6)Wrap Up a Scenario

If you opened your document with a scenario, story or vignette, revisit it.
It works well for many types of articles and tends to personalize and add
interest to heavy information.

7) End With a Quote

Many writers are partial to pithy quotes. If you can find one that supports
your article or essay, feel free to use it--as long as you attribute it
properly. We don't want to violate any copyrights.
8) Present a Solution

If your article focuses on a problem, use your conclusion to point

the reader to a good solution. It works well for political, social or
similar beats etc.

UNIT-3
(3.1)Television News Reporter: Techniques and Styles
A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news
broadcaster"), anchorman or anchor woman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a
person who presents news during a news program on television, on the radio or on
the Internet. They may also be a working journalist, assisting in the collection of news
material and may, in addition, provide commentary during the program. News presenters
most often work from a television studio or radio studio, but may also present the news
from remote locations in the field related to a particular major news event.

The role of the news presenter developed over time. Classically, the presenter would read
the news from news "copy" which he may or may not have helped write with
a producer or news writer. This was often taken almost directly from wire services and then
rewritten. Prior to the television era, radio-news broadcasts often mixed news with opinion
and each presenter strove for a distinctive style. These presenters were referred to
as commentators
With the development of the 24-hour news cycle and dedicated cable news channels, the
role of the anchor evolved. Anchors would still present material prepared for a news
program, but they also interviewed experts about various aspects of breaking news stories,
and themselves provided improvised commentary, all under the supervision of the producer,
who coordinated the broadcast by communicating with the anchor through an earphone.
Many anchors also write or edit news for their programs, although modern news formats
often distinguish between anchor and commentator in an attempt to establish the "character"
of a news anchor. The mix of "straight" news and commentary varies depending on the type
of program and the skills and knowledge of the particular anchor

Some of the techniques of reporters are:

i)Plan how you Want to use Your Live Shot

A live shot is a tool for reporting, just like a TV interview, graphics, or other
parts of a news package. While you can't control everything the moment
you "go live," you can decide how going live will improve your story.

Many live shots happen outside of buildings, such as city hall. While you
won't have the incredible visuals of a fire behind you, you can reinforce the
timely aspect of your report by saying, "I'm live in front of city hall, where
inside these doors just moments ago, the city council voted to cut 1,000
employees from the payroll." You are telling the audience you are on the
scene, covering the latest developments as they happen.

Surprisingly, in breaking news situations, it's actually easier to plan your

live shot. If you're in a tornado-ravaged neighborhood, you can do a show-
and-tell report by pointing out what you see and interviewing those affected
by the disaster.

Another common live shot scenario is covering a news conference or

speech. You'll want to start by introducing the event, then letting it unfold,
then delivering a wrap-up. However, these situations can be tricky because
you need fill-in material. If your live shot of a 5:00 p.m. news conference
doesn't start until 5:10 p.m. you'll need to fill ten minutes of air time.
ii) Talking in an Outline Format Works 
Organizing what you want to say is critical in delivering a smooth live shot.
Beginners often try to memorize every word, but that's dangerous. If you
forget one tiny piece of information you'll stumble through your report, or
worse, freeze on-air.

It's better to talk in an outline format. Think about the bullet points you want
to hit, as if you were giving a PowerPoint presentation. You can visualize
the bullet points or go a step further and visualize what you want to say in
pictures. For the city hall live shot, they would picture the building, the city
council sitting at a large table, and then the 1,000 people with pink slips.

iii) If you Stumble in Your Live Shot, Keep Going

We all stumble occasionally when we talk with friends or family, so it's
inevitable you'll stumble occasionally while talking during a live shot. When
this happens, recovery is key.

To prepare for the inevitable, think about what you do when you stumble in
real life. You'll likely say the word correctly, then continue speaking. No big
deal, and more importantly, no one remembers your brief verbal hiccup.
The goal is to achieve a natural recovery in your live shot. The more you
make your live shot look natural, even when you stumble, the more
professional you'll appear.

iv) When Appropriate, Move Around in Your Live Shot

You've seen reporters for the broadcast networks deliver countless live
shots in front of the White House. They all stand still speaking into their
microphone. It's easy to assume that's the model to follow for any live shot
because that's how the big shots do it.

However, what works in D.C. doesn't necessarily work at a state fair,

protest march, or natural disaster. As a reporter, you have the option to
move around while reporting live.

Remember, viewers want you to show them something, so don't disappoint

them. Take viewers somewhere they can't go on their own. Walk around
the state fair and point out the attractions. Use the camera at the protest
march to show just how many people are there. Demonstrate the depth of a
natural disaster by showing a resident's home filled with water.
 It's easier than you think. Once you add movement to your live shot, the
words will flow because you will be talking about what you're seeing. 

A moving live shot requires practice with your videographer because they
need to know you have enough cable for their camera and your
microphone. You and your videographer need to rehearse your movements
in advance to ensure you stay in focus and in the frame. Failing to
communicate with your videographer can result in a disaster that'll be
captured on live TV.

v) Wrap up Your Live Shot and Push the Story Forward

The perfect live shot shouldn't wither in its final moments. That's why you
must plan ahead of time how you'll wrap-up your  You also need to think
about where your story goes once the camera is turned off. After all, most
stories don't end once you head back to the station. "The people whose
homes are flooded are now waiting to hear back from their insurance
companies to see if their insurance will cover the damage" is a good way to
wrap up and position yourself for a follow-up report.

Understandably, it's tough to manage all the live shot components while
acting naturally. However, reporters are expected to excel at being live on
the scene, and your on-air career likely depends on you nailing it.

1 some of the styles of

news reporters are:
Watch the news. Watch the news with intent and purpose. Really pay close
attention to what the reporter is saying and doing. Then, notice what s/he is not
saying but telling you with their tone, inflection and non-verbal gestures/body
language. Some questions you can ask yourself as you critically analyze your
subject:
 What is the reporter saying?
 How are they saying it?
 What does the reporter's voice sound like?
 Where are their eyes?
 Where are their hands?
 How do they hold their head and shoulders?
 Close your eyes and listen. Notice the reporter's voice has inflection; it is not flat.
The reporter sounds excited to report to you. The reporter tells you what is
important, what is sad, what is exciting, and what you don't want to miss, all with
their voice. It's not so much what they're saying, but how they are saying it.

2
Read. Speaking like a news reporter starts with having a command of the English
language. The type of book you read matters. Read information that is similar in
style to what a news reporter delivers on the news. For example:
 Biography or historical book
 News magazine
 Newspaper
 Reading will improve your vocabulary.
 Look up the words you don't know. This will help you with understanding the
context of what you're reading and with word pronunciation. That way, when you
are reading as a reporter and come across words you don't know, you'll be able
to take an educated guess and sound intelligent.
 Read out loud when you are alone. Listen to your voice and what your tone is
saying.

3
Practice speaking and reading aloud.
 Before you start speaking, do singing and speaking verbal exercises to loosen
your mouth and tongue. Also clear your throat away from your audience before
you begin.
 Take that book or newspaper and read it out loud to yourself in the mirror. It's
time to really see and hear yourself. It will take practice in order to get good at the
ability to glance at written work, capture it quickly, then read it well while looking
straight ahead.
 Look at what your face is saying as you read. Reporters have confidence even
when they're staring at a camera. They believe in what they are doing and they
want to share the breaking story with the viewer. Your face reflects what you
believe and voice confirms this.
 4
Listen to your speech. Practice reading quickly without stumbling. It's important
to articulate each word clearly when you want to communicate information. Each
word should stand on its own and not flow into another word.
 Know when to slow it down. A reporter will say, "Coming up next," very quickly
but slow down when they say, "...and you won't want to miss it."

5
Learn to read from a distance. You'll often see a reporter with papers in their
hand. You can do this too!
 Type up and print a news story that you want to practice reading. The letters
should be between 1.5" to 2" tall and in the sans-serif font, such as Arial or
Helvetica. This will most accurately reflect the teleprompter type-style.
 Practice reading from a distance by placing the paper(s) on a table while you're
seated or down by your waist.

6
Record yourself.
 Break out the video camera or smart phone and either record video or audio of
yourself.
 Play it back and listen closely.
 Watch the news and compare your voice to the reporter's.
 Play your recording back to yourself again. This is not a time to self-loathe or
criticize yourself; it's a time to see where you can improve and contemplate how.

7
Challenge yourself.
 Read something news related that you haven't read before. See how you do.
Avoid speaking in everyday language and using jargons.
(3.2) Different Types of Reporting: Objective,
Investigative, Interpretative, Reporting Beats

A journalist is a person who collects, writes, or distributes news or other

current information to the public. A journalist's work is called journalism. A journalist can
work with general issues or specialize in certain issues. However, most journalists tend to
specialize, and by cooperating with other journalists, produce journals that span many
topics.[1] For example, a sports journalist covers news within the world of sports, but this
journalist may be a part of a newspaper that covers many different topics
A reporter is a type of journalist who researches, writes, and reports on information in order
to present in sources, conduct interviews, engage in research, and make reports. The
information-gathering part of a journalist's job is sometimes called reporting, in contrast to
the production part of the job such as writing articles. Reporters may split their time between
working in a newsroom and going out to witness events or interviewing people. Reporters
may be assigned a specific beat or area of coverage.
Depending on the context, the term journalist may include various types of editors, editorial
writers, columnists, and visual journalists, such as photojournalists (journalists who use the
medium of photography).
 Beat reporting, also known as specialized reporting, is a genre
of journalism that can be described as the craft of in-depth reporting on a
particular issue, sector, organization or institution over time.

Beat reporters build up a base of knowledge on and gain familiarity with the topic, allowing
them to provide insight and commentary in addition to reporting straight facts. Generally,
beat reporters will also build up a rapport with sources that they visit again and again,
allowing for trust to build between the journalist and his/her source of information. This
distinguishes them from other journalists who might cover similar stories from time to time.[1]
Journalists become invested in the beats they are reporting for, and become passionate
about mastering that beat.[2] Beat reporters often deal with the same sources day after day,
and must return to those sources regardless of their relationship with them.[3] Those sources
may or may not be pleased with the reporting of the reporters.[3] It is pertinent that beat
reporters contact their sources quickly, obtain all necessary information, and write on
deadline.[3]
According to media sociologists, beat reporting occurs because of the limited time reporters
are given to cover stories.[4] For big scoops, beats are not necessarily as useful as other
journalism types.[4] Some of the best inside stories, for example Bay of Pigs and Watergate,
did not come from beat reporting.[4]
Beat reporters collect information from each person they meet while reporting.[5] They
routinely call, visit, and e-mail sources to obtain any new information for articles. [5] When
reporters have experience on a specific beat, they are able to gain both knowledge and
sources to lead them to new stories relating to that beat.[5] Beats are able to help reporters
define their roles as journalists, and also avoid overlap of stories within the newsroom.
THERE ARE VARIOUS TYPES OF REPORTING SUCH AS:
I)Objective,
II) Investigative
III)Interpretative
IV)Types of beats

I)OBJECTIVE REPORTING: To maintain objectivity in journalism,

journalists should present the facts whether or not they like or agree with those
facts. Objective reporting is meant to portray issues and events in a neutral and
unbiased manner, regardless of the writers opinion or personal beliefs.
Objectivity in journalism aims to help the audience make up their own mind about a story,
providing the facts alone and then letting audiences interpret those on their own. To maintain
objectivity in journalism, journalists should present the facts whether or not they like or agree
with those facts. Objective reporting is meant to portray issues and events in a neutral and
unbiased manner, regardless of the writers opinion or personal beliefs.
This type of writing is best used when you as a writer need to present unbiased
information to an audience and then let them determine their own opinion.
Newsreports and school textbooks often use objective writing. ... Subjective
writing might express feelings, opinions, and judgments.

II) Investigative reporting: Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in

which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political
corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years
researching and preparing a report. Investigative journalism is a primary source of
information. Most investigative journalism is conducted by newspapers, wire services,
and freelance journalists.
An investigative reporter may make use of one or more of these tools, among others, on a
single story:

 Analysis of documents, such as lawsuits and other legal documents, tax records,

government reports, regulatory reports, and corporate financial filings
 Databases of public records
 Investigation of technical issues, including scrutiny of government and business
practices and their effects
 Research into social and legal issues
 Subscription research sources such as LexisNexis

This type of reporting takes months and sometimes even years to

complete. This needs lots of research therefore it is also known as
primary souces of information
III)Interpretative reporting: Interpretive (or Interpretative) journalism or
interpretive reporting requires a journalist to go beyond the basic facts related to an event
and provide more in-depth news coverage. The lack of precise borders accompanied with
diverse theoretical approaches related to what interpretative journalism is in the modern
world results in the practice of interpretative journalism overlapping with various other genres
of journalism, and furthermore operationalization of interpretative journalism becomes largely
blurred. [1] Interpretive journalists must have atypical awareness with and comprehension of a
subject with their work involving looking for systems, rationale and influences that explain
what they are reporting.[2]
The impact of interpretive journalism is when the reporting results in trend-setting articles,
powerful think-pieces and further straying into the field of investigative reporting which has
become the hallmark of good print journalism. But in recent times with the trend of breaking
news and in finding ways to get viewers faster, journalists as well as readers have given up
or just don't find time for traditional long-form interpretive reporting.
Reporter needs more information as to make more news from it and aware the public.
he spread of interpretive reporting brought with it a number of variations such as new
journalism, activism and advocacy journalism, adversary journalism, investigative journalism.

iv)THERE ARE VARIOUS TYPES OF BEATS IN REPORTING:

1.POLITICAL BEAT
2.LEGAL BEAT
3.CRIME BEAT
4.ENVIRONMENT BEAT
5.BUSINESS BEAT
6.SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BEAT
7.HEALTH BEAT
8.SPORTS BEAT
9.FESTIVAL AND CELEBRATION BEAT
10.MOVIE AND ENTERTAINMENT BEAT

POLITICAL BEAT- The Politics Beat is a group of reporters

dedicated to the local politics scene. City commission meetings, upcoming
elections and new economic developments are all talked about here, by reporters
that value informing the public about what's happening.
Political correspondents gather and analyze information to
prepare politicalreports, articles and interviews for print and online publications,
as well as television and radio broadcasts. They inform the public
about political news at the local, state, national, and international levels.
It also includes elections, polls , political campaigns etc.
Qualities of a political reporter:

 Critical thinking skills about political issues and dynamics

 Strong instincts for finding good political stories
 Sharp writing skills and an attention to detail and nuance in reporting
 The ability to operate effectively in deadline situations
 A fluency with political and social science research methods and insights.

LEGAL BEAT- Covering the courts is an important task for the news media
for several reasons. First, the judiciary is one of the three branches of government.
Therefore, coverage of the courts fulfills part of the watchdog function of the media.

Despite the importance of court house coverage, judges and lawyers often complain
that news organizations send journalists out to do stories with little training about the
complexities of the justice system. Members of the public also complain about
sensationalistic reporting that is inaccurate or short on context. This course is
designed to combat weaknesses in coverage of the courts by educating aspiring
journalists on the structure of the judicial system, its terminology, its function, and its
importance in public understanding of how the government as a whole operates.

It also includes court hearings, amendment of laws etc.

CRIMINAL BEAT: Crime reporting teaches some of the

essential techniques of journalism. You learn how to dig for a
story, how to follow leads, how to interview people to extract
information and how to write crisp, clear, interesting stories
under pressure of a deadline.

In small newspapers, radio and television stations, general

reporters cover crime stories, while in bigger organisations
there may be a specialist crime reporter or team of reporters
who cover nothing else but crime.
These specialist reporters are occasionally called police
reporters, although this title gives a misleading idea of their
task. It suggests that all they do is report on what the police
are doing when, in fact, crime reporting should cover all
aspects of law-breaking - the police, the criminals and the
victims. It includes criminal cases like muder,rape,corruption,
kidnapping etc.

ENVIRONMENT BEAT:  Environmental

Reporting. Environmental reporting is, regardless of its name or
disclosure media, to promote communication of organizations, to fulfill its
accountability regarding environmental efforts in their activities, and to
provide useful information to decision making of interested parties.

It Includes areas such as deforestation, global warming, environment

sensitive areas, world submits, environment campaignsetc

BUSINESS BEAT: Most newspapers, magazines, radio, and television-

news shows include a businesssegment. Detailed and in-depth business
journalism may appear in publications, radio, and television channels dedicated
specifically to business and financialjournalism.

his area of journalism provides news and feature articles about people, places and
issues related to the business sector. MosT newspapers, magazines, radio, and
television-news shows include a business segment. Detailed and in-depth business
journalism may appear in publications, radio, and television channels dedicated
specifically to business and financial journalism . Includes share markets, business
conferences and seminars etc

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BEAT:

Science journalism conveys reporting about science to the public. The field typically
involves interactions between scientists, journalists, and the public.

The aim of a science journalist is to render very detailed, specific, and often information
produced by scientists into a form that non-scientists can understand and appreciate while
still communicating the information accurately. One way science journalism can achieve that
is to avoid an information deficit model of communication, which assumes a top-down, one-
way direction of communicating information that limits an open dialogue between knowledge
holders and the public.
Science journalists often have training in the scientific disciplines that they cover. Some have
earned a degree in a scientific field before becoming journalists or exhibited talent in writing
about science subjects. However, good preparation for interviews and even deceptively
simple questions such as "What does this mean to the people on the street?" can often help
a science journalist develop material that is useful for the intended audience.

Science values detail, precision, the impersonal, the technical, the lasting, facts, numbers
and being right. Journalism values brevity, approximation, the personal, the colloquial, the
immediate, stories, words and being right now.

SPORTS BEAT: Beat reporting. Beat reporting, also known as specialized

reporting, is a genre of journalism that can be described as the craft of in-depth
reporting on a particular issue, sector, organization or institution over time.

Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on sporting topics and competitions.

Basically physical educators who have a talent for writings may opt a career as a sports
journalist
Sports journalism is the essential element of many news media organizations. While the
sports department (along with entertainment news) within some newspapers has been
mockingly called the toy department, because sports journalists do not concern themselves
with the 'serious' topics covered by the news desk, sports coverage has grown in importance
as sport has grown in wealth, power, and influence.
Sports journalism is a form of specialization with its own special rules and
conditions. Whether one is a sports writer, reporter or sub-editor, he lives in a
different world. But in that world the basic principles of the craft remain the same.
Within Journalism relating to sports, there are subsidiary specializations concerned
with cricket, hockey, football, tennis, badminton and athletics etc. Here there is
choice enough for anybody.  
HEALTH BEAT: Medical journalism is news reporting of medical news and
features. Medical journalism is diverse, and reflects its audience. ... The
accuracy of helth journalism varies widely.
It includes health related survey, campaigns, HealthBeat News emphasizes
treatments, cures and overall prevention. 

Public health is none of those, though some public health stories

touch on many of these areas. Put simply, public health and
reporters who cover it investigate the threat, occurrence and
prevention of health problems— infections, chronic diseases,
injuries and exposure to toxins—not in individual patients, but in
groups that can be as small as an elementary school classroom or
as large as the global population.
FESTIVAL BEAT:
It includes predictable holiday stories,presentation of religious people,festivals, religious
fares, religious conferences etc.

Some of the sources of festival beat are: religious gurus, govt. Agencies,organisers of
religious meetsetc.

MOVIE AND ENTERTAINMENT BEAT: Entertainment

journalism is any form of journalism that focuses on the entertainment business and its
products. Like fashion journalism, entertainment journalism covers industry-specific news
while targeting general audiences beyond those working in the industry itself. Common
forms include television and film criticism, music journalism, video game journalism,
and celebritycoverage.[1][2][3][4] The rise of the Internet allowed many amateur and semi-
professional journalists to start their own blogs relating to entertainment journalism.

A review or analysis of a motion picture released to the public.[5] The critic's review or

analysis is subjective and informative, with a focus to inform and entertain the consumer.
[5]
 Film criticism is considered to have had a major impact on the integration of the cinema
into mainstream media.[5] It is stated that film criticism wasn't fully accepted as an art until film
was widely accepted in the 1960s.[5] The Internet has further advanced the acceptance of
this entertainment journalism with the introduction of film blogs and film review sites.[5]Some
popular film review sites and blogs include Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb, and Metacritic. For more
information on this topic, see Film criticism.

It includes all the upcoming movies, celebraties personal lives, celebrities interviews, events,
celebrations like diwali parties ,movie reviews etc.